AwardBIOS 2.xx

From SoftHistory

AwardBIOS 2.xx is a family of versions of AwardBIOS, first released in around 1985. It is so far the earliest version of AwardBIOS with ROM files and photos available to confirm its existence. It was also the first version of AwardBIOS with a built-in setup utility (although it was only introduced with some later instances).

POST screen

The POST screen on AwardBIOS 2.xx is fairly basic as it is quite early, with only the BIOS version string and copyright shown, along with (sometimes) the RAM test counter and (if exists) POST errors.

On earlier instances both the BIOS version and copyright strings were shown on the same line. With later instances, the copyright string was moved one line below.